A day in the life: IIM A

This article was originally written for this blog. A slightly modified version was later posted on IIMA’s Official Blog

It is true what they say about the institute –

Grades, Social Life, Sleep – choose 2 /3….

to demonstrate what happens when you try to get all three, let me post about the past 24 odd hours of my life here.

10:55 pm (yes, on weekends, days generally start after 6 pm) – Slams the Managerial Computing(MC) casemat shut, stares at the untidy bit of code (which will work…eventually!), rubs his eyes, looks at the watch – it’s 11:00 already! Off to the library!

12:15 am – has to run to his CV mentor – Deadlines are sacrosanct here – PlaceCom deadlines, more so!

1:55 am – goes to a Section-mates’s Birthday Bash – is about to gobble his 3rd packet of Chips – realises he has a meeting in 5 mins!

2:00 am – back to the library! Meeting with another member of the Forum for Industry Interaction (FII) – a consulting body entirely managed by IIMA students! Am amazed by the volume of transformational work being done within the institute as I learn more about the projects we are currently handling and our past record! This year promises an even better representation from the industry – can’t help but look forward to it unfolding!

3:45 am – SLEEP! (3/3 !! ) The past week had been relatively light as compared to the norm, but as soon as I fell on the bed i startezzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZzzzzzZZ

10:00 am – “ALARM RINGS” – snooze no.5! (thank GOD it’s a Sunday!)

10:10 am – “ALARM RINGS” – again! NEED to wake up this time!

11:00 am – Meeting with the IIMA Consult Club co-ordinator – I am preparing a sector report for an industry I have never worked on before – overloaded with information .. this may take a while to assimilate. Learnt about some really helpful databases and other resources – time well spent!

off to the library ..AGAIN! it is surprising how much time I have started spending in the library, especially considering the fact that during my undergrad, I went to the library twice – to enquire about the availability of Diamond Comics (supposedly that’s not crucial to our undergraduate experience!) and the other time, to get back my umbrella which I had forgotten the first time!

2:00 pm – Back to my room (the electrical maintenance team here is surprisingly quick!) Opens the MC casemat again! More pieces of incomprehensible codes to follow! Finally nails it! Is about to #fistpump in the air, when he realises he has 3 more parts to finish! #facepalm!

3:00 pm – suddenly realises the growling sound he’s been hearing since a while, is coming from his stomach –I haven’t eating anything since morning! Goes to his neighbour – begs for some food – he’s all out..but he has Maggi! 😀 (thank you, dorm microwave!)

There I few things I love more than Maggi….Maggi Masala Dumdaar is one of them!

4:00 pm – decides to schedule the rest of his Day – decides to clear all backlogs in Financial Markets (FM) and Financial Reporting and Analysis (FRA) , mostly because there is a possibility of a quiz tomorrow I am here for the learning 😉

5:45 pm – opens his eyes >> everything is turned by 90degrees, the first page of Chap1 is stuck to his cheeks..I SLEPT AGAIN! (ok, this seriously needs to stop!)

6:30 pm – Group Meeting! Finally, a possibility of some academic productivity! I have never appreciated group study more before coming here! Working along with 5 other people through cases and problems makes it so much easier!

7:45 pm – Let me reconcile it one last time – maybe it will tally this time! No such luck – I hope I have collected enough material to explain why the Balance Sheet is not supposed to tally in the lecture tomorrow! Anyway – off to the next case

8:00 pm – Marketing (MKT) Assignment – Buyer Behaviour – collating our thoughts on insights derived by shadowing buyers near some shops – So much to draw from the experience! I see people shopping for stuff all the time, but never realised how much the setting, the salesperson, the time of the day and even the cellphone the buyer uses influences buying decisions! Anyway, stuck to the mundane task of making a presentation out of it…thankfully my we’ve all done our homeworks – reach the final output in no time!

9:00 pm – first decent meal of the day! Times like these, I appreciate (or at least try) the mess!

9:30 pm – back to studies -still have FM, Prob Stats, MKT to read!

10:30 pm – Have some urgent work for Confluence (the biz fest) – will take an hour!

11:55 pm – Ok, it took more than that! Looks at the screen, his blog page is open – almost a month and a half since the last post! Considers writing something now….looks at this to-do list – still loads to do!

Mental Note: this way, I will never be able to post anything!

Cognitive Dissonance …

Looks at the items he struck off from the list – “hey, I actually got quite a lot done today, might as well spend some time typing something…”

The To-Do list has seen better days!

* I realise I have gotten thoroughly confused between, tense and first second third fourth persons in this narration, Grammar Nazis, please pardon me!